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Fanuc showcases ‘Zero Down Time’ IIoT solution

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Fanuc America demonstrated its Zero Down Time (ZDT) Industrial IoT solution at Automate 2019 .

The company’s augmented reality (AR) experience featured manufacturing situations where ZDT could help. The experience included six common manufacturing challenges printed on two graphic display panels that simulated manufacturing facilities.  

ZDT’s predictive analytics have already saved millions of dollars by preventing unexpected down time in the automotive industry, says the company.

In addition to reducing unexpected down time, ZDT allows users to maximise production throughput, optimise maintenance costs, increase the life of their robots, and access data from anywhere via the ZDT web portal.

Since its introduction in 2015, ZDT analytics have successfully identified potential equipment issues, and notified customers to take corrective actions and avoid unexpected down time in over 600 cases, saving companies more than $75 million, adds the company.

“The value of ZDT applies to every manufacturer,” said Joe Gazzarato, director of engineering, ZDT Product Development, Fanuc America. 

“No matter what industry you’re in, the prospect of maintaining consistent production uptime and reducing costs equates to a competitive advantage – which is what ZDT offers our customers.”


AutoStore announces newest distribution partner, Kuecker Logistics Group

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AutoStore has announced a partnership with Kuecker Logistics Group (KLG), located in Belton, MO, USA. KLG provides material handling solutions across North America.

It has experience in a diverse range of markets including solutions for e-commerce fulfilment, retail, wholesale, protein, cold chain, convenience store, pharmaceutical, 3PL and food/beverage distribution.

KLG provides solutions in supply chain management, industrial automation and robotics, life cycle services and more. It designs and builds systems to increase throughput and storage capacities while reducing labour and facility costs.

[Read more…] about AutoStore announces newest distribution partner, Kuecker Logistics Group

Infineon expands its development site in Austria

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Infineon is planning to expand its development site in Linz, Austria. The company says it will strengthen its research and development efforts in the field of high-frequency components.

The Infineon Austria holding company – Danube Integrated Circuit Engineering – in Linz will be provided with a new home.

The company broke ground for the new site today.  [Read more…] about Infineon expands its development site in Austria

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower kicks off IP Expo Manchester 2019

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IP EXPO Manchester, co-located at Digital Transformation EXPO, opened yesterday with Christopher Wylie, ex-Cambridge Analytica employee turned whistleblower.

Wylie gave visitors the inside track on one of the most notorious data scandals to date and shared his insights on what governments, technology vendors and regulatory bodies should be doing to better protect personal data in the future.

Drawing parallels with other sectors such as aviation and utilities, he questioned why technology was the only industry where the burden was placed on the consumer: “As consumers, we’re not told if you don’t want to get electrocuted, don’t use electricity. There are regulations in place and accountability lies with the provider, not the user. Why isn’t that the same with technology?”  [Read more…] about Cambridge Analytica whistleblower kicks off IP Expo Manchester 2019

Volvo CE opens parts distribution centre in Canada

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Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has opened a new parts distribution centre in Toronto, Canada, to better serve its customers in the country.

With the new centre, Volvo CE will be able to deliver critical parts the next day after an order is placed to dealers in most major markets across Canada.

Volvo CE dealers in Canada forsee huge benefits to having a distribution centre based in the country. Prior to the opening of the centre, the company shipped all parts to its Canadian dealers from the United States. This entailed processing through customs, which could cause delays in delivery and increase machine idle time.

[Read more…] about Volvo CE opens parts distribution centre in Canada

Report: US vertical farming market worth $3 billion by 2024

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The US vertical farming market is projected to reach values of around $3 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of more than 24% during 2018-2024, according to a new report from Research and Markets.

The vertical farming technique offers speedier supply chain for seedling production and with an eight-week turnaround time of seedling ordering system.

These systems will help farmers to meet the growing demand and offer promotions and special offers to consumers in the US market.

[Read more…] about Report: US vertical farming market worth $3 billion by 2024

Toyota Mobility Foundation announces Mobility Unlimited Challenge finalists

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The five finalists in the three-year Mobility Unlimited Challenge have been unveiled at CES in Las Vegas.

The Toyota Mobility Foundation launched the $4 million global challenge in 2017 in partnership with Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre, with the aim of improving the lives of millions of people with lower-limb paralysis.

The Challenge invited engineers, innovators, and designers from across the world to submit designs for game-changing technologies, incorporating intelligent systems, to improve the mobility and independence of people with lower-limb paralysis.

[Read more…] about Toyota Mobility Foundation announces Mobility Unlimited Challenge finalists

NXP to support Open Neural Network Exchange format 

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NXP Semiconductors is to support  the Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) format within its edge intelligence environment (eIQ).

NXP’s eIQ is a comprehensive machine learning (ML) toolkit that helps original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) balance performance needs and system cost when deploying neural networks and their associated inference engines at the edge.

ONNX is an open standard for representing deep learning models that enables trained models to be transferred between existing Artificial Intelligent (AI) frameworks.

[Read more…] about NXP to support Open Neural Network Exchange format 

TMEIC automates Khalifa Port’s Phase II Expansion at Abu Dhabi Terminals

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Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) has been chosen to provide industrial drive and automation solutions, including automation of the Landside Transfer Zone (LSTZ), for a second major expansion at Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT).

The Phase II expansion project includes 54 Konecranes Automated-Stacking Cranes (ASC) at the Khalifa Port Container Terminal (KPCT).

TMEIC previously provided automation solutions for 52 Konecranes ASCs during Phase 1 of the project, commissioned in December 2012.

[Read more…] about TMEIC automates Khalifa Port’s Phase II Expansion at Abu Dhabi Terminals

Insight: ‘Auto-mate’ – why automation can be a business’s best friend

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Klaus Allion, managing director at ANT Telecom, explains why strengthening automation capabilities should be an automatic choice for production and manufacturing companies

Automation and the manufacturing/production industries are no strangers; they’ve been bosom buddies since the 1970s and have been quietly reshaping business for almost half a century.

Few sectors have embraced automation so much and for so long. However, the world is changing and some within the sector are being left behind.

Seismic advances in technology – from artificial intelligence and machine learning to the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor technologies – have redefined what’s possible through automation, giving organisations renewed opportunity to transform processes, strengthen safety and increase efficiencies.  [Read more…] about Insight: ‘Auto-mate’ – why automation can be a business’s best friend